Already a household name within the
Spokane and Cheney communities, Wade Benson enters his second
consecutive year as head coach of the Eastern Washington women's
volleyball program and ninth overall in 2014.

Benson was the head coach at
Eastern from 2000-06, compiling an impressive record of 154-55
(.737) - the best winning percentage of any coach in school
history. His Big Sky record during that time of 78-24 (.765) still
ranks among the top four in conference history.

Benson led the Eagles to
six-consecutive 20-win seasons, three Big Sky regular-season titles
and one tournament title in 2001. The Eagles played in the Big Sky
Championship match each of his seven years at the helm. After
earning the automatic bid to the NCAA National Championship in
2001, Benson’s team upset Oregon State, 3-2, in the first
round to advance to the second round of the tournament, which is
still the best postseason run by any Big Sky team in history.

In 2002, Benson directed the Eagles
to a 29-2 overall record, which remains as the best single-season
record of any Big Sky team throughout history. That year, the
Eagles also made the USA Today/AVCA Division I Top 25 poll for the
first time, and earned a ranking as high as No. 15 in the nation,
which marked another all-time league record.

Benson's teams at Eastern
Washington also experienced success in the classroom and in
attendance at Reese Court. Five of Benson’s squads received
the AVCA Team Academic Award, while his players were honored 59
times on the Big Sky All-Academic list from 2000-2006. In addition,
Eastern averaged more than 1,000 fans per match in each of his
seven seasons and ranked in the top 30 nationally in attendance. He
earned an impressive 60-9 home record while at EWU.

Benson left Eastern following the
2006 season for an assistant coaching position at Auburn. After one
year with the Tigers, he was promoted to head coach. In just three
seasons at the helm, Benson took Auburn from a 6-25 team in 2008 to
a national-tournament contender in 2010 with 21-13 record. Those 21
overall wins were the most the team had since 1998, while his 11
victories in Southeastern Conference play tied a school record.
That same year, the Tigers earned an at-large bid to the 2010 NCAA
National Championship - Auburn’s first appearance in school
history. The team went on to win its first-round matchup against
Missouri State, 3-0.

After his first full year of
recruiting at Auburn, Benson pulled in the nation’s No. 26
recruiting class for 2009, according to PrepVolleyball.com. The
nine-member class also ranked third in the SEC. Among the class was
outside hitter Sarah Bullock, who was named to the SEC All-Freshmen
Team.

Benson had a total of four players
named to the All-SEC team from 2008-2010. While at Eastern, he had
16 different players named to the All-Big Sky team, including 12
first-team selections and two Big Sky MVPs. The 2002 MVP, Janelle
Ruen, also earned AVCA All-Pacific Honorable Mention accolades.

Benson left Auburn following the
2010 season, and moved with his family to Miramar Beach, Fla. Along
with small business endeavors outside of volleyball, Benson coached
club volleyball and gave private lessons. He also served as a
volleyball consultant, conducting seminars and clinics at various
four-year universities and junior colleges around the country.

Prior to his coaching positions at
the Division I level at Eastern and Auburn, Benson was the head
coach at Western Oregon for one year, where he put together a 42-7
overall record in 1995. His team won the Cascade Collegiate
Conference regular-season and tournament titles, and went on to
finish third in the 1995 NAIA National Championship.

Aside from his time as a head
coach, Benson also has eight years of experience as an assistant.
He served under Judy Lovre at Western Oregon for three years,
before joining the Eastern Washington staff, where he was an
assistant for four years under current SWA, Pamela Parks.

Together, Parks and Benson led the
Eagles to three-straight seasons of 22+ wins (1997-99), as well as
two Big Sky tournament titles in 1998 and 1999. The Eagles placed
third or higher in the Big Sky regular-season standings in each of
his 11 seasons as a member of the EWU coaching staff.

During those 11 years in the
Spokane area, Benson also served as the club director and head
coach of the Spokane Splash Volleyball Club, while also working as
camp director of the Northern Exposure Volleyball Camp in
Washington, Oregon and Idaho.

Benson and his wife, Jill, have a
9-year-old son, Brady Jaymz, and a 7-year-old daughter, Bailey
Marie.

Benson's wife is the former Jill
Haas, who was an All-American volleyball player at Sacramento State
from 1994-96. A member of the Sac State Volleyball Hall of Fame,
she holds school records in career kills (2,037), single-season
kills (798), single-match kills (40) and single-match digs (42).
She also ranks sixth all-time in career digs (1,576) and third in
single-season digs (619).